Consumption of coffee, particularly the decaffeinated variety, is associated with a reduced risk of diabetes, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The study is not the first to document this association. However, in previous studies it was unclear if the relationship was true among people of different ages and body weights and if the caffeine component was the ingredient primarily responsible for the anti-diabetes effect.
Dr. Mark A. Pereira, from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and colleagues addressed these uncertainties by analyzing data from 28,812 women enrolled in the Iowa Women's Health Study, which ran from 1986 to 1997. All of the women were free from diabetes and heart disease when the study began.
The subjects were divided into groups based on the amount of coffee they drank: none, less than 1 cup, 1 to 3 cups, 4 to 5 cups, or 6 or more cups per day. During follow-up, 1,418 of the women were diagnosed with diabetes.
Women who drank the most coffee were 22 percent less likely to develop diabetes than the group that drank no coffee, the report indicates. Further analysis showed that this association, which remained relatively stable by age and body weight groups, was largely accounted for by intake of decaffeinated coffee rather than regular coffee.
The coffee ingredients responsible for the possible protective effect remain unclear. Two coffee components, magnesium and phytate, did not account for the association seen. Caffeine intake from all sources, including soft drinks, also had no bearing on diabetes risk.
Although the first line of prevention for diabetes is exercise and diet, in light of the popularity of coffee consumption and high rates of...diabetes in older adults, these findings may carry high public health significance."
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, June 26, 2006.
根据Archives of Internal Medicine的一篇报道，饮食咖啡，尤其是脱咖啡因的咖啡，与降低的糖尿病风险之间存在关联。
该研究并不是这种关联的第一次报道。然而，先前的研究并没有阐明在不同年龄段和不同体重人群中是否都存在这种相关性，以及咖啡因是否是咖啡具有抗糖尿病作用的主要成分。
通过分析1986到1977年间在衣阿华妇女研究机构登记过的28812位妇女资料，明尼亚波利斯的明尼苏达大学Mark A. Pereira博士及其合作者通过数据说明了这些相关性。当这个研究开始时候，这些妇女都不患有糖尿病和心脏病。
根据她们饮食咖啡的数量，将这些被试验者分成小组：不喝咖啡，每天不超过一杯咖啡，1到3杯，4到5杯，6杯或更多。在跟踪调查中，有1418位妇女被诊断出患有糖尿病。
报告显示，喝咖啡最多的妇女与不喝咖啡的相比，其发生糖尿病的几率减低22％。更进一步的分析表明，这种与年龄和体重保持相对稳定的关联性，主要可以由她们饮食的脱咖啡因咖啡的数量进行解释，而不能用饮食的普通咖啡数量进行解释。
咖啡中可能起到保护作用的成分目前还不清楚。其中镁和植酸这两种成分，不能解释观察到的这种关联。从包括软饮料在内的其他来源摄取的咖啡因，也没有发现与糖尿病风险有联系。
虽然预防糖尿病的最好方法是锻炼和饮食，但是由于在高龄成人中饮食咖啡的普遍性和糖尿病高发，这些发现对于公众的健康具有重要意义！
源自：Archives of Internal Medicine, June 26, 2006.
编者按：本文由丁香园网友atgc翻译。
编辑：西门吹血
